KRAKEN READYING FOR NHL EXPANSION DRAFT
By: Allan Ly
RP Show Intern
In the 2021-2022 season the Seattle Kraken are set to join the National Hockey League.
The city of Seattle have similar eagerness to the Kraken as their rabid fanbase of their football team, the Seahawks.
“The Seattle Kraken sold out their season ticket deposits in about 12 minutes,” said Andy Eide from ESPN 710 on the Rod Pedersen Show. “Anywhere you go now, you see more and more Kraken [merchandise].”
The NHL Expansion Draft for the Kraken is set to take place on July 12, and many are wondering what the Kraken will do.
Eide does not think that Kraken will get top-tier talent, but they will figure something out; however, he does have huge faith in Kraken GM Ron Francis.
“Ron Francis does have a good history of drafting in the amateur draft,” said Eide. “We looked at that Carolina team that just got eliminated [and] a lot of those players were brought into that organization by Ron Francis.”
Ron Francis was inducted in the NHL Hall of Famer in 2007 and won two Stanley Cup rings with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
He had a successful playing career and transitioned to a front office career after playing 1,731 NHL games.
That team that he assembled while in Carolina finished first in the Central Division even after Francis moved on.
As for his drafting, Francis was celebrated for finding the diamond in the rough with Sebastian Aho in the second round of the 2015 NHL draft.
Brett Finger from SB Nations classified that draft class for Francis as a win when he was grading Francis’ time in Carolina.
Now the Kraken are looking ahead to the July 23, 2021 NHL entry Draft, Francis will now be looking for top tier talent and the Kraken hold the number two overall pick.
Ryan Kennedy of Sports Illustrated, ranked these current patch of prospects as his top three: Owen Power from the Michigan Wolverines(NCAA) , Simon Edvinsson from Frolunda (J20 SuperElit League) and Dylan Guenther from the Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL).
Unfortunately, most Hockey experts like Ryan Kennedy, Dev Parikh from Game Haus, a leading website in sports media, and Adam Kimelman from NHL.com all have Owen Power going number one.
I can see why Power from Michigan is considered the number one; he got the size( six foot five) to be dominant.
I hope the Kraken selects Dylan Guenther from the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings; he averaged two points per game while playing in the WHL (2020-21 season 12 goals and 12 assists).
That is nice offensive production, and for an expansion team like the Kraken, that would be great to have for their first season.
The Kraken will have some big shoes to fill because the last expansion team, the Vegas Golden Knights, went to the Stanley Cup final in 2018 and made the final 4, in three of their first four seasons.
Do the Kraken reach the levels of the Golden Knights? Unlikely, however, the team’s foundation is entertaining with management, and the future looks bright for the newest NHL team.
(Follow Allan the Intern on Twitter at @Allantheintern)
